Many activities and occupations, today, require an individual to use a face mask and goggles to protect their face and eyes. For some individuals, it is important that they have clear, adequate vision at all times while wearing the face mask and goggles.
Examples of individuals who need both face and eye protection and clear vision are those who participate in outdoor racing activities, such as jockeys or motorcyclists. It is known that while racing, mud, dirt and rain can impair the riders vision and that special precautions must be taken to maintain vision during the race. To provide clear vision during a race, jockeys often wear a plurality of racing goggles stacked one above another over their eyes. During the race, as mud, dirt, and rain is splattered on the outer most goggle, the jockey reaches up with one hand and quickly pulls the outer most goggle downward from the stack to expose the lower stacked goggle. By repeatedly removing the outer dirty goggle from the stack during the race in this fashion, the jockey is able to maintain clear vision throughout the race. These lightweight goggles, however, offer little or no protection for the eyes against hard, direct impacts.
Even though jockeys are often kicked by horses or hit with mud, dirt, and rain in face while racing, they generally do not wear face masks for several reasons. First, conventional face masks are uncomfortable to wear and generally impair their vision while racing. Second, even if vision were adequate with conventional face masks, they are not adequately designed to hold or to align an outer goggle over the eyes during use. Third, conventional face masks do not allow an outer goggle to be quickly and easily removed from the eyes with one hand when vision through the outer goggle is impaired, and do not provide a means for holding a plurality of stacked outer goggles over the eyes in the manner used by jockeys.
A face mask device, then, that is comfortable to wear, that protects the face and eyes, and that holds and allows the quick and easy exchange of outer goggles in the manner described above, would be highly desirable.